CHARLOTTE McDONALD-GIBSON

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson has worked as a foreign correspondent for 13 years, reporting from three continents for the international media. Her career includes four years reporting from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Pakistan and Afghanistan for the global news agency Agence France-Presse. From 2011 to 2013 she was Deputy Foreign Editor of The Independent, overseeing the paper's coverage of key world news events including the Arab Spring.

Now based in Brussels covering the Europe Union for The Independent and TIME magazine, Charlotte specialises in foreign affairs, human rights and migration.

For much of her career Charlotte has taken a keen interest in refugee and migration policy, and has tracked the EU's response to the growing crisis on its borders. Her reporting on the issue has taken her to all corners of the continent and further afield: from the streets of Damascus as the uprising took hold to the Rome naval control room running Italy's search and rescue operation; from the home of Egyptian farm hands in Cyprus fire-bombed by neo-Nazis to the filthy detention centres in Bulgaria where Syrian refugees live in medieval conditions. She has interviewed hundreds of people on the subject, from the refugee stranded up a mountain in Morocco to the EU's top migration official.

Charlotte is also a regular commentator on European affairs for broadcast media including the BBC, Monocle 24, France 24, CBC and ABC Australia.

Her first book Cast Away – Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis was published in 2016.

PRAISE FOR Cast Away

'This is a fascinating and necessary book about one of the great tragedies of our age as people flee failed and failing states in pursuit of a safe and normal life. It is essential reading for anybody interested in the individuals taking part in this mass flight and why they feel they have no choice but to escape' - Patrick Cockburn

'This is a book which needed to be written and stories which needed to be told. Bravo' - Alex Crawford

A compelling non-fiction exploration of the refugee crisis In the Mediterranean, told through the stories of those who have made this perilous journey and lived to speak of their experiences.

On 19 April 2015, when over 700 men, women and children perished in the Mediterranean, Europe's leaders were swift with a chorus of outrage and promises of action. But this catastrophe could have been prevented. For years, conflict has been driving thousands to risk the perilous crossing, but instead of offering sanctuary, EU governments have been scaling back rescue operations and refusing to overhaul the bloc's inept asylum system.

Following the fate of a handful of those who have washed up on Europe's borders, Cast Away offers a vivid glimpse of the personal dilemmas, pressures and hopes that lie beneath the horrifying headlines.